Forging die



July 20, 1954 R. E. HAMMOND 2,683,999

FORGING DIE Fil id Oct. 30, 1950 L Z I RALPH E. HAMMOND INVEN TOR.

Patented July 20, 1954 Ralph Hammond; .Houston,

Cameron Irn -Works, 1110.,

corporation of Texas Tex., assignor to- Houston, Tex., a

Application October 30, 1950, Serial N0; 192,929

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to improvements in forging dies and refers. moreparticularly to forging dies which are made up 'ofa plurality ofseparable die parts which areheld together as a unit during a forgingoperation but thereafter are separated to facilitate removal of aforging from the dies, whereby irregularly shaped objects may be forged.

In press forging metal articles in separable dies, very large forces aredeveloped tending to separate the die parts. These forces aredue to theforce exerted by the metal being forged acting against the walls of thedie parts. In order to withstand these forces and maintain the die partsin forging position, side rams of the press have been utilized. Alsovarious arrangements of die holders have been devised which have metwith some degree of success. However, when large objects are to beforged the forces to be withstood are very great and chiliculty has beenencounteredinmaintaining the proper relationship between die parts. Asan example, in forging valve bodies for use in controlling two and threeinch conduits, the side of presses have been adequate to hold the dieblocks close enough together so thatanqobjectionable spreadingwas-encountered; IIow. ever, when-it was attemptedmopforge four-,inohvalve bodies, and larger, it was found that the lateral forces on thedie blocks, due to the increased area of the forging, was such that theI side rams were unable to prevent undue spreading of the die blocks.This resulted in distorted forgings with an undue amount of flash andthe amount of metal required in the original billet cannot beconsistently predicted.

An object of this invention is to provide a forging die made up of aplurality of parts in which the means for holding the laterallyseparable die parts is not subjected to all of the force due to theaction of the forged metal against the wall of the cavity.

Another object is to provide a forging die made up of a plurality ofseparable parts in which one of the parts is disposed transversely ofthe line of separation of the laterally movable parts and in which thefirst part is sufficiently heavy to withstand the lateral forces due tothe action of the forged metal against the walls of that part of the diecavity formed in such part and acting in a direction to separate thelaterally separable parts.

A further object is to provide, in a three piece die assembly having twolaterally separable parts, for the shielding of the holding means forthe two parts from a portion of the force due to themetal being forged,acting in a directon to separate the laterally movableparts.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings forming apart of the instant specificationandwherein like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts inthevarious views:

Fig. l is a schematic view, infront elevation, of.

a press forge of the side ram type equipped with a die assemblyembodying this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a View, in section, of the die assembly.

facilitate removal of a forging, anda die-part 5.

which contains asignificant portion of the die cavity. This die block 5is arranged so thatthe forces due to .the forging. metal, acting againstthe portion of the die, cavitycontained by this part, in adirection toseparate the die parts 3.

and 4, are held by the diepart 5,and,are not transmitted to the holdingmeans of preventing lateral separation of the die parts tandj i;

Referring to the drawings-in detail'numeral 3 designates generala pressshown schematically in Fig. 1. The press has a base plate i forsupporting a die assembly and a die punch 8 adapted to be presseddownwardly within the cavity of the forging die. Side rams 9 and H! arecarried by the press and abut the die blocks 3 and 4. These side ramsmay be connected to the die blocks in any conventional manner tofacilitate manipulation of the die blocks in a forging operation. Inthis type of a forge the side rams 9 and I9 constitute the holding meansfor securing the laterally separable die parts against separation.

The die shown is one for use in forging valve bodies and includes thethree parts or blocks 3, t and 5. The two parts 3 and i are laterallyseparable along a plane shown at H which includes the axis of the punch8. In this type of press the plane of separation or line of separationis vertical.

The die cavity is formed in the three parts with the open portion forreceiving the heated billet and the punch being formed in blocks 3 and dand shown at l2 and I3 respectively. The punch B is adapted to belowered into the cavity formed by portions l2 and l3 after the placementof a heated billet therein to extrude the metal of the billet so as tofill all of the die cavity. The

block 5 has a cavity 14 constituting a portion of the die cavity. Thisportion l4 of the cavity has upwardly tapering walls whereby the forgingmay be readily removed from it. In the particular embodiment, theportion 14 of the cavity forms the lower portion of the valve bodybeneath about the horizontal center line of the valve or the horizontalaxis through the flow passage which will be formed in such a valve body.

The die shown is the type which will forge a valve body having flangefittings for securing the body in a conduit to be controlled. The entireportion of the cavity for forming the flanges is formed in the laterallyseparable die parts 3 and 4 as shown at I5 and [6.

The two parts 3 and 4 are formed with a recess in which the part orinsert 5 seats. The recess and insert have a dimension transverse theplane of separation of the die parts 3 and 4 which is considerablygreater than that dimension of the portion of the die cavity I4. Alsothe thickness of the block 5 beneath the lowermost portion of the diecavity portion [4 should be quite great so as to provide a very rigidinsert part or block 5 such that the forces developed by the forgedmetal acting against the walls of cavity portion 14, in a directionnormal to the separation line between the blocks 3 and 4, may be held bythe block 5 itself and not transmitted through the blocks 3 and 4 to theside rams 9 and H).

In operation, a heated billet of metal to be forged is placed within thedie cavity after the cavity has been assembled in the Fig. 1 position.Then the punch 8 is lowered and pressed downwardly upon the billet so asto extrude the metal of the billet into the closed cavity to completelyfill the die cavity. During this extrusion operation considerable forceis developed due to the fiuid metal acting against the die parts in adirection to separate parts 3 and 4. The side rams S and function toprevent separation of these parts but in the particular arrangementthese rams are shielded from a considerable portion of this separatingforce. The shielding effect is due to the presence of the insert orblock which is formed sufiiciently heavy to itself withstand the lateralforces acting against it in a direction normal to the line of separationof the parts 3 and 4.

The portion 14 of the die cavity is substantially centered along thelongitudinal dimension of the part 5. Preferably, the other horizontaldimension of the portion 14 is centered with respect to this horizontaldimension of the overall die cavity.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth,together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matterherein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

In a three piece forging die, a first die part having formed therein, inone face thereof, a substantial portion of the die cavity, a second andthird die part comprising a split die movable over said face of saidfirst die part, each of said second and third die parts having a cavityand a communicating recess formed in their adjacent faces, the cavitiesof said adjacent faces forming a continuation of the cavity of saidfirst die part to create the shape of the article to be forged and saidrecesses of said split die located normal to said first die face inalignment with the cavity therein, and adapted to direct a forging forcetoward said cavities and in the main to the cavity of said first diepart.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 329,284 Dalzell Oct. 2'7, 1885 403,696 Powell May 21, 18891,003,654 Reinoehl Sept. 19, 1911 1,870,723 Friedman Aug. 9, 1932

